A stitch in time
‘Who are you wearing?’ is a question usually reserved for Hollywood red-carpet premieres, but thanks to developing collaborations between musicians and fashion designers, it might soon move to the concert hall. There have always been ties between popstars and fashion labels (Madonna and Jean-Paul Gaultier; Björk and Alexander McQueen; Vivienne Westwood and the Sex Pistols, among others) and now the classical world is catching up: violinist Charlie Siem has fronted campaigns for Chanel, Armani and Hugo Boss, Westwood has designed the costumes for a Sydney production of Handel’s Semele and pianist Lang Lang has teamed up with Hublot.
Clothes and accessories help mould an identity. Composer Steve Reich has made wearing a baseball cap part of his signature style, while pianist Yuja Wang favours bodycon mini-dresses, skyscraper stilettos and, as a Rolex representative, a glittering watch. Clearly, any assessment of musicianship should be independent of stagewear (reactions to Wang’s sartorial choices have continued since she made headlines for performing in a
